Stolen Kisses
by The-Scarlet-Finch
Summary: A Valentines Day Deepthroat mystery at Neptune High. Veronica has to go undercover to convince Lovesick to hand over the elusive Kiss List of cheating students 09ers before Wallace, and most of her non-09er classmates lose their scholarships and Weevil takes the fall. Time running out and needing a partner... will Logan be her Valentine?
1. Chapter 1

Ahoy Mateys!

(What's Love Got to do with it? - Tina Turner)

"It goes without saying, but thanks. I owe you," Wallace grinned as he swapped the notes Veronica gave him into his backpack. Every year the Neptune Athletes were drafted by the Pirate Cheerleaders into creating healthier options to the usual store bought sugar confections, his mandatory participation meant he needed her notes for their upcoming midterms.

"I'll remember that next time I need a favour," she taunted playfully sipping on the end of her straw.

"Just as long as it isn't any more chocolate covered fundraising," Wallace shuddered glancing over at Natalie Schultz setting up The Sweet Spot with her sister Faith arranging the chocolate covered strawberries designed like ladybugs.

"It could be worse. You could have ended up the short straw for the _Lonely Hearts _Date Auction," Veronica reminded him with a broad smile.

"You mean you wouldn't save me?" he asked with high eyebrows.

"You would need saving?" Veronica asked innocently, playing avoiding eye contact and focusing attention on a strand of blond hair between her finger and thumb.

"It's Valentine's Day, what else would you be doing?" he chuckled. The question was rhetorical. Their anti-valentines plans were set, her place, a couch, a coffee table full of discount snacks he liberated from the Sak n Pak and whichever cable horror movie was on.

"Welcome to Extortion Day," she muttered looking along the make-shift stalls filled with student entrepreneurial hand-made crafts. Some held bouquets of flowers, stuffed bears and varying kinds of cards, old style custom offers to make CDs claiming to be more _personal_ that a Spotify playlist and a free period 'beauty salon' declaring a _Blow Out _the best kind of last minute present. Especially with the Valentine's Day Dance tonight.

_Make-up, paws and claws all done for some lucky lady and her fraudulent prince…_

Veronica glanced over at the pink and red squad of cheerleaders hanging balloons and stringing up the paper heart shaped card holders to the front of lockers, rolling her eyes when she noticed the heart shaped braids in Madison's hair.

Growing up in the shadows of wealth had a way of making a person cynical over these expensive gimmicks. Greedy socialite 09ers demanded them in abundance complete with hand delivered bouquets which used up almost a year's worth of Pirate Points to be allowed into Neptune High. It all reinforced the status and the class difference. Those who demanded the glitter and to be crowned Queen of Hearts tonight, and those like Mac, who hustled their skills and provided some of the student entertainment today.

The Lonely Hearts 'Compatibility Test'- for a more bespoke Senior Speed Dating Experience.

_Maybe once she had bought into all of this, but that girl was as gone as Duncan Kane…_

"Hi Wallace," Jane smiled coyly walking by with deliberate slowness.

"Okay Romeo, you _might_ need a little saving," Veronica chuckled as he buried his head inside the cool metal of his locker.

"Get your hand off me!" Weevil growled, trying to shrug the school security officer from his shoulder.

"Looks like I'm not the only one," Wallace said following her gaze in the direction of the commotion.

It was a familiar sight.

Eli Navarro being escorted to the Principals office with Clemmons and Mr Daniels. It was less common now that Principal Moorehead was gone, but it still occurred often enough that the routine was practically dance steps.

The Criminal Element does something suspiciously illegal, Neptune's Bad Boy gets pointed to as the fall guy… Veronica finds the truth, taking the law into her own hands if necessary.

The struggle toward graduation lives to fight another day.

"Rounding up the usual suspects," she murmured.

Weevil cut a look in Veronica's direction and her feet already started moving towards Clemmons office.

"I'll just deal with the glitter volcanoes and over-the-top declarations myself then huh?" Wallace called after her.

"Just don't get Jock Blocked and you'll be fine," she shrugged.

Weevil's angry voice was growling through the door by the time she got there. "I've already told you…"

"So it just so happens to be a coincidence you were the last person seen lingering around the Navigator office before the blackmail letter was found?" Mr Daniels demanded.

"This is bullshit. Echolls found it!" he spat back. "Why isn't he in here too? What makes you think it wasn't him?"

"These are some serious allegations," Principal Clemmons said sternly. "The last thing this school needs is another scandal regarding our athletes, particularly this close to finalizing scholarships. I'd hate to think that the final solution here would be further such drastic measures like the mass suspension of our athletes."

Veronica knew that tone, it was a similar one she'd heard when a conclave of parents rigged the drug tests so that their children could gain the spots opened up.

"The note clearly states this 'Kiss List' is with the _Candy Man_, are you claiming this isn't you?" Mr Daniels demanded.

"No, I'm the Muffin man, but I'll be sure to give him a call, maybe the two of us could bake you a raspberry ruffle." Weevil snapped. "Look, if you've no proof, send me back to class. Provide me with that education, you know I've got mid-terms too. Maybe talk to Echolls… Until then. I'm done talking."

There was a murmuring of reprimanding voices and finally he was dismissed with a detention notice.

"You got me a case for Valentine's Day? I miss the days when you were just scamming donations to guess the amount of candy in the jar. Now you're sending love letters…" Veronica quipped leaning against the reception desk.

"You know I was thinking of buying you cards for a cause but now I might just put you on Tinder," Weevil retorted, his dark eyes roving over her face.

_Maybelline lashes and puppy dog eyes…_

The playful banter was comfortable as the fury radiating from him subsided. Whatever was going on, she would get to the bottom of it.

_You can't save them all…_ her father's voice warned. Weevil came with a reputation. A bad one, and he was no stranger to trouble but she knew he wouldn't get involved with something that could ruin his chances at graduation. It was his one singular focus.

She might not always find the evidence needed to clear her friend, but she could hope.

"Just be glad I'm such a bleeding heart," Veronica replied falling in step beside him.

"Kept thinking I might actually get through this year…" Weevil sighed as if his anger were deflating. She stiffened at the tone in his voice, between the drug test scandal and the preferential treatment 09er parents demanded from the school board, she knew the faculty was tense and looking for an easy scapegoat.

Before he could take more than a couple of steps she reached out and touched his shoulder.

"You will," she promised. He looked over her shoulder and Veronica almost felt the tension in the room corridor spike. It knotted in her stomach and she knew who it would be without even turning around. Even after Lilys death, there was always a certain gleam in Weevil's eyes when he caught sight of his rival. Stepping closer into her breathing space. His hand was resting on her upper arm in a casual way, but it was full of provocation.

_Logan. _

It was an innocent gesture, but especially since their break up this summer, and after he found out how she survived the bus crash, her closeness with Weevil was a sore spot of her ex-boyfriends.

Eli Navarro was his nemesis, his rival.

"I'll see you after class," Weevil said but they both knew he meant after she broke into Clemmons office and made a copy of that note Mr Daniels had been talking about.

Veronica exhaled slowly, gripping onto her backpack and turning to face her ex. The bell rang out around them before Weevil sauntered off gracefully like a large jungle cat.

A smug jungle cat.

Her heart squeezed at the momentary flash of pain before Logan's poker face snapped into place.

_Of all Cupids arrows… she sometimes wished she could unprick herself with that one. _


	2. Chapter 2

Veronica Mars was a girl who loved solving mysteries. Finding the truth and seeking justice was in her blood, it was the family business. But her biggest unsolved puzzle was that guilty exhilaration every time she got close to Logan Echolls.

His hungry eyes radiated enough heat to melt the polar ice caps. Hungry and furious about her recent encounter with a certain tall, tattooed and delicious Eli Navarro.

_If only he knew only one brooding bad boy owned, and then broke her heart._

Which is why she had established Operation Snowstorm… the ground rules of Echolls engagement.

No sex.

No falling in love.

Only exchange dialogue if absolutely necessary.

Don't remove her own clothing, or any of his… Much safer to live that side of her life in her head.

Never let him know how badly he got under her skin, or how badly she wanted to explore every inch of his.

It had been a summer fling… she may have fallen hard but no matter how many cameos he made while she hunted for clues. Her gut told her to keep her distance while her heart protested. She would not rekindle their relationship.

How did you get over a guy when your own body wouldn't give you space?

_Why can't it ever be some other guy twirling his imaginary moustache?_

This wasn't her first blackmail case this year, and knowing her Hellmouth of a school, it probably wouldn't be the last. A few months ago a blackmailer was terrorizing the Pirateshippers. It ended with the villain being one of their very own Neptune LGBTQ+ students, but now a new nemesis had appeared determined to take down her classmates.

_The Game was on… and Logan Echolls looked delicious today… _

"Dude, it's perfect, you just keep an eye out for empty hearts… or get a hall pass while everyone is in classes. Then BOOM, shoulder to cry on becomes a Dick to ride on," Dick Casablancas said as he pulled a Valentines day card out of the folder on the locker.

_Life takers and heart breakers…_

His best friend looked like a kid on Christmas morning grinning at all the possible insecure girls who would jump into his devious arms. Dick was still relishing his 'reject the rule of women' mantra since his break up with Madison Sinclair.

"Mastermind that one all by yourself?" Logan sighed. In truth, he envied his companions vagabond libido, his ego was Teflon.

Veronica Mars.

Pixie-sized sexy sleuth. Frequent visitor of his dirtiest dreams.

Cupids bow had struck hard, and even now he still didn't know how to be without her.

How did you win the heart of a girl who wrapped hers in barbed wire and put up perimeter fencing?

Logan knew better than most that lies catch up to you. He was good at lying, but no self-assured pep talk he ever gave himself was convincing enough that he didn't doubt that she would not appreciate knowing she was the star of every R rated movie in his head.

Everyone lies to protect the ones they love.

"Nope… it would be safer kissing a barracuda. I mean if you want a painful Valentines Day man, I could give you some sandpaper," Dick said shaking his head, standing in front of Logan like he was about to call some emergency intervention.

A man on a mission to save his buddy, and Dick with his 'Please be my Valentine Naked' t-shirt was a welcome distraction.

Veronica might have been drawn to Weevils rugged tattooed biker looks but Logan knew at the end of the day, she was all business. Since Duncan had taken off with his love-child she had resolved to avoid men, and him, at all costs. But if Veronica thought he knew something then her demanding nature would need placating or she would almost spontaneously combust. Unable to resist baiting her even a little until she figured out what he did or didn't know, hearts and flowers would be the last thing on her mind.

_Spending time with her might just be worth the sting…_

Unless she wanted to make him a little crazy with jealousy. The image of her with another guy is sure to get the fires going, and the idea of her with Weevil cut deepest of all.

Logan catalogued every part of her. The mesmerizing way her blond hair fell around her face and cascaded over delicate sun-kissed shoulders, the way her pink lips pressed together as her blue gaze met his, and how it made him ache to kiss her.

Dick had hypothesized to Logan that his love for Veronica was a simple case of psychological reactance.

_He wanted her because she didn't want him, but he wasn't sure it was that simple._

Weevil was in trouble again, and Veronica was coming to the rescue. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, recalling how a few months ago he'd had to ambush her and plead for help.

Neptune was an insidious, inescapable web and she was tangled up with him. They would never have the cutesy normal romance his heart longed for. There would be no adorable miniature pigs and candy hearts in their future.

Unseen forces always threw his life in some horribly wrong direction.

Perhaps that's why he still had a teddy bear in his glove compartment since beginning of senior year.

_I still luv you beary much, Veronica._

Logan hated feeling pressured into doing the speed dating to find a partner for the Valentines Dance, but Dick had insisted on his wingman status. Declaring them both so single they had no one to drunk text.

"Now there's a swoon-worthy idea! You should lead with that," Logan quipped.

_Maybe he should invest in a leather jacket.. get some ink…_

"I thought about just going in direct offering up a sensual massage with a happy ending." Dick grinned.

"That sounds about as successful as the lightbulbs you were handing out last week," Logan said dryly. Recalling the blond surfers attempt to woo the female population of Neptune High by giving out lightbulbs to girls he thought were worth doing with the lights on.

"Ground work man, someday they will try revenge screwing me in college," Dick shrugged.

"Always about the long game," Logan remarked with a weary laugh.

"The philosophy is deeper than that dude, it's all about creating and seizing opportunities," Dick counselled white removing a small box of chocolates from Caitlin Fords locker. His friends pick-up artistry escapades were legendary, his current approach for giving girls back-handed compliments to get them interested was obscenely effective. "Women are not the source of your feast of famine man, you are." Dick continued opening the box and chewing down, even almost two years after their break up he kept messing with Logan's ex-girlfriend.

"Messing with a girls chocolate Dick? That's one way to end up alone with your hand tonight. I mean tomorrow it's all half-price…" Veronica commented.

"Logan has a gift for you," Dick retorted holding up his chocolate covered middle and index finger wrapped in a pink bow. Veronica flushed at the crass implication and Logan cut a disapproving glare to his companion. Logan deserved an Academy Award for being the best male actor of the year trying to stop himself from looking at her. The mental images of her moaning his name, her back arching into his touch made him swallow hard, and clench his fists.

Physical intimacy between them had been a forbidden topic from their banter in weeks since Duncan's departure, but Dick gave no fucks as he smirked in Logan's direction. "Get this little ho-mance out of your system by tonight dude, remember, today is Dicks before Chicks," he sighed tossing the box of chocolates into the trash behind him and heading off towards the art department.

"Does that mean his side chick is you?" Veronica quipped as they watched him add two S's onto a Heart saying You Complete Me.

_Not even a sniper but taking him out would do so many girls a favor… _

Logan followed her disgusted gaze, amused he nodded. "Complete with a long blonde wig, eye shadow and pink lipstick. He has so much love to give… he just sucks at expressing it."

"So glad I swiped right for this conversation," Veronica said she crossing her arms glancing over at a card Dick had amended to 'I love you-_R_ to Bits.' She had seen Principal Clemmons confiscating a box of screws and nails from him this morning.

_Dick Casablanca's ladies and gentlemen… the number one reason to become a vocal advocate for birth control. _

Logan felt the invisible hand pull him to towards her, his eyes devouring every detail like he was starving. It was true, the more scarce the contact… the more attractive a woman could be to men in general.

_Agony is no reward…and chasing an Ungettable Girl is the road to ruin._

"You know if you wanted a card… a man cannot miss that which he sees every day," Logan told her sarcastically.

"I'll remember that next time I meet a man," Veronica quipped, the petite detective had a special gift of keeping him off balance.

Frowning he realized that perhaps Dick had a point about that _negging_ theory, it elicited the right response. A few witty barbs from that sharp tongue and he became like putty in her hands.

What a summer that was.

Until it all ended-badly.

"Sure, you must have mistook me for that _other_ hot guy you follow around in a non-stalker way at places you frequent," Logan wisecracked, the jealousy evident in his voice.

Veronica was only talking to him because she was duty bound to save her precious Weevil and that fierce loyalty made her wave the white flag.

That blackmail letter was the only reason for his reunion with the sassy private eye.

If he thought there was any chance it could mean something to his little Nancy Drew beyond her pumping him for information. He'd gladly bankrupt ever account to shower her with every commercialized cliché in this building to earn a smile that turned his insides to jelly.

_Valentines Day Sucks..._


End file.
